New York: Top US billionaire financier and investor Thomas H. Lee, who was a pioneer in debt-fuelled corporate acquisition known as a leveraged buyout, was found dead in his Manhattan office on Thursday.

New York Post reported Thomas H. Lee was found dead due to a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Cops responded to a 911 call at 767 Fifth Ave. — where Thomas H. Lee Capital LLC is located on the sixth floor — around 11:10 a.m., a source told the newspaper.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will determine the official cause of death.

“The family is extremely saddened by Tom’s death. While the world knew him as one of the pioneers in the private equity business and a successful businessman, we knew him as a devoted husband, father, grandfather, sibling, friend and philanthropist who always put others’ needs before his own,” Lee family friend and spokesperson Michael Sitrick said in a statement as quoted by the newspaper.

Thomas H. Lee was an American businessperson, financier, and investor credited with being one of the early pioneers in private equity and specifically leveraged buyouts.

Thomas H. Lee Partners (THL), the firm he founded in 1974, is among the oldest and largest private equity firms globally.